Hello! I don't think there's a difference between PMAC and brushless DC. Well, I think sometimes PMAC wants a pure AC waveform for best results, and brushless DC wants trapezoidal? But I'm not sure. Also, both motors work fine with an AC waveform.

If it's a permanent maget motor, and you have an encoder, you shouldn't need different firmware. You might just have to set the number of pole pairs, motor type (permanent magnet with encoder) etc.

That would be absolutely awesome to go through the whole tuning process and everything. That's something that I should have done and never got around to doing.

If it's a permanent maget motor, and you have an encoder, you shouldn't need different firmware. You might just have to set the number of pole pairs, motor type (permanent magnet with encoder) etc

Thanks Paul,

Some time ago there was a question about lowering the cost of the AC Controllers for a production run by using parts that were rated for lower voltage, less capacitance, etc.

Did you ever look into the cost savings? I remember thinking (and I think I posted) that the cost savings would not be significant compared to the PITA of tracking all of the extra components.

The SEVCON controller is *TINY*. 1.5 inches thick, about the length and width of a sheet of paper, air cooled, and not much for fins. I have trouble believing that it will do 650A for more than a few seconds before it overheats. The back of the controller is maybe 3/16 inch aluminum and is just bolted to the frame. No thermal grease even! ... or none that is left after the guys at the mine did their service, anyway.

The caps inside that SEVCON must be very small and have incredibly low ESR.

After I get one of these things running I expect that I will be adding a *LOT* of instrumentation to see the temperature the controller is at, the battery amps and motor amps, the motor temps, etc. I'm also looking at monitoring the ESTOP circuit. The interlocks include a safety lockout switch, the key switch, the parking brake, the 'gear' selector (F, N, R), the speed selector (L, M, H), charger plugged in, feedback that the contactors closed ... and perhaps other stuff? Troubleshooting the thing when it stops is not going to be fun without some monitoring and some sort of display ... maybe even a single LED that flashes morse code? How Geeky would THAT be?

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I know they have low power 6 pack chips that can be very affordable, with a maximum current of maybe 10 amps or something. But they are not isolated. I"ve never messed around with those, but I would like to eventually. Those are rated for 600v though, so the sevcon probably uses some low voltage mosfets and boot-strapping (however the heck that works). The 6 isolated supply way of doing it is the sledge hammer approach.

I know they have low power 6 pack chips that can be very affordable, with a maximum current of maybe 10 amps or something. But they are not isolated. I"ve never messed around with those, but I would like to eventually. Those are rated for 600v though, so the sevcon probably uses some low voltage mosfets and boot-strapping (however the heck that works). The 6 isolated supply way of doing it is the sledge hammer approach.

I love the idea of the LED morse code!!

If the controller is very close to the motor, and it pretty much HAS to be on a vehicle ... then the reflected wave stuff is minimized (since the impedance of the cable is quite different from the impedance of the motor, any waves or pulses will 'reflect' from the motor and you can see a bit over 2X buss voltage at the motor terminals and the controller terminals). A 48V (57V) buss with full reflection is only 96V (115V). Add some safety factor ... 200V (230V) or so? That's still well within the MOSFET range. But driving MOSFETs to switch both the high side and low side takes a bit more circuitry and effort .. so I read. The EVTV episode where they take apart a blown-up TESLA controller showed a *BUNCH* of what looked like TO22 MOSFETs clamped to water-cooled tubes ... not sure if they mixed P channel for switching the positive side with N channel for the negative side?

Mouser lists 300V 400A IGBTs at $35 each, you'd need 6, plus the low esr caps .. anything else that would change based on the lower voltage? I know that you have 6 isolated supplies - would that change with the lower voltage? Somehow I doubt it.

400A does not match the 650A SEVCON I have but SEVCON have a 450A model available for the Ranger EV as well. I'm not actually sure what they would do continuous either. If you are pulling 650A for more than a few seconds, you would melt the cables, the motor, or the batteries even if the controller COULD put out that sort of power.

It's interesting to think about, anyway

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In THEORY there is no difference between Theory and Practice
In PRACTICE there IS!

I'm building up your controller right now and I have a few stupid questions:

1. In the BOM you list a fancy circular capacitor. I've never seen anything like that before now. Is there any reason why I couldn't just use some big electrolytics?

2. I know the pic code has been evolving, but has the ATtiny code for the DC-DC converters still the same as in the github library you linked to in the instructable?

3. I'm on the fence about buying a Pickit 2 or 3. Would either work? Which would you recommend? 3 is a bit more expensive.

Thanks for the help! I picked up a 1hp motor and I hope to put it in a dirtbike frame soon.

I will take a shot at answering the questions (so Paul can correct me):

1 - you can use electrolytics or any other type of capacitors you like. The ring capacitor has some interesting specs. The only one that I remember is Low ESR (equivalent series resistance). And since it has many contacts on the positive and negative plates, it somehow minimizes the noise induced by the carrier frequency. Something about minimal enclosed area? But other capacitors will work. Perhaps not quite the performance, but they will work. I have taken apart industrial controllers from several vendors. NONE of them use these ring capacitors.

2 - I didn't see the code in the instructable. But I know that this code has not changed for quite a while. There was no update (that Paul mentioned)
between the original Cougar controller, the IGBT DC Controller and the AC Controller. I would guess that code is the same. I think I have the hex file in my archives somewhere .. I can send you a copy if I locate it.

3 - I bought the PicKit 3. It is newer and has current libraries for more of the PIC family. It is also what Paul is using, so this should minimize the problems. Paul favors an older version of the C compilers .. and I have some problems building his new code. MPLab X is a re-write from scratch of the IDE, sort of a fork of a different series of IDE that Microchip purchased/is using ... I likely messed up that story. But it is not much like the older version.

Paul has been pretty busy lately - hopefully he is still checking the group

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Cool, I just got an SOIC8 clip on programmer so I can program the ATtiny. The Pic can be programmed once it is soldered on the board via the ISP header, correct?

Yes, the PIC (pretty much ANY PIC as far as I know) can be programmed via ISP ... ICSP? .. header before or after soldering. The One-time Programmable versions (OTP) can be programmed in circuit or before as well .. just that you only get one shot at it.

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In PRACTICE there IS!

Hello Guys, i'm back again and sorry about my very bad english.. ahah
first of all i got the motor running on dspic30f6010A.. and added a code for 16x2 LCD. because it is impossible to debug because the analog inputs for current sensing are also programming port inputs.

But now i need your help guys who already tested this controller.. and MPaulHolmes also yours ahah if you have some time.
details of hardware:
CURRENT SENSORS: LTS-25-NP
IGBTS: FGH40T120
IGBT DRIVERS: A3120 OPTOCOUPLERS
BUS VOLTAGE: 100V UP TO 22AMPS
ENCODER: 1000 PPR

the problems with these values are:
1: the motor jumps to maximum speed (4000+ RPM) with minimum variation of potentiometer.. i checked the potentiometer and it is ok. i checked also the ADCBUF values these also are in 0-1023 int.
2: the motor turns only in one direction.. the other haf of pot range does nothing.